1. Field
Example embodiments relate generally to a method of manufacturing a flexible display substrate using a process film and a process film for manufacturing a flexible display substrate. More particularly, embodiments of the invention relate to a method of manufacturing a flexible display substrate directed to providing an improved convenience of a manufacturing process and a reliability of the manufactured flexible display substrate, and a process film for manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a current information society, there is a great emphasis on display devices as visual information transmission media, and display devices having low power consumption, reduced size, reduced weight, high resolution, and the like are desired.
In particular, a flat panel display (FPD) device having the reduced size and the reduced weight replaces a conventional cathode-ray tube (CRT) device, and the flat panel display is divided into a liquid crystal display (LCD) device, a plasma display panel (PDP) device, an organic electroluminescent display (OLED) device, and the like.
In the conventional method of manufacturing the FPD device, a glass substrate having a high thermal resistance and a high transmittance is used, because the manufacturing process of the FPD device is performed at a relatively high temperature. However, the glass substrate has a poor impact resistance and a relatively large weight, and it is hard to increase the size of the glass substrate.
Recently, a resin having a desired impact resistance, a reduced weight and a desired optical characteristic, for example a thermoplastic resin such as polycarbonate (PC), polyimide (PI), polyethersulfone (PES), polyarylate (PAR), poly(ethylene naphthalate) (PEN), poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) and cycloolefin copolymer or a thermosetting resin such as an acryl resin, an epoxy resin and an unsaturated polyester resin is used to form a flexible display substrate.
The flexible display substrate may include a plastic layer or a metal foil having a thickness thinner than that of the glass substrate, so that the flexible display substrate may be thin, flexible and inexpensive. Therefore, the flexible display substrate has been widely studied recently.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a conventional method of manufacturing a flexible display substrate.
Referring to FIG. 1, in the conventional method of manufacturing a flexible display substrate, an adhesive 20 is coated on a glass 10, and a base layer 30 of the flexible display substrate is bonded on the adhesive 20 to fix the base layer 30 on the glass 10. Alternatively, the base layer 30 may be fixed on the glass 10 using other methods instead of the adhesive 20.
Then, a cleaning process, a thin film deposition process, a photoresist process, an etching process, and the like are performed to form various signal lines and an array of thin film transistors on the base layer 30, thereby forming a display portion 40 and a terminal portion 50 disposed adjacent to the display portion 40. The packaged base layer 30 is cut to complete the flexible display substrate.
However, the flexible display substrates are manufactured one by one in the conventional method, and thus the unit cost of production is expensive.
Further, during the step of cutting the base layer 30, the display portion 40 and the terminal portion 50 may be scratched, and static electricity or fine dust may become a problem.
Therefore, a method of manufacturing a flexible display substrate is desired to provide an improved convenience of a manufacturing process and reliability of the manufactured flexible display substrate.